Safety device for withdrawing needles from bale cases



July 29, 1952 G. B. H lLL 2,604,844

SAFETY DEVICE FOR WITHDRAWING NEEDLES FROM BALE CASES 2 sHEE'rssHEE'r 1 Filed NOV. 29, 1946 INVEN TOR.

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Lll llll lTl July 29, 1952 G. B. HILL SAFETY DEVICE FOR WITHDRAWING NEEDLES FROM BALE CASES Filed NOV. 29, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET. 2 v

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qa Q N N (D [,3 9, "gel (0 :0 53 l\\ (D a I") C .0 r0 8 g 2 r0 r- N LO 0 I a INVENTOR ORGE B. HIL w 8 ATTORNEYS Patented July 29, 1952 I SAFETY-DEVICE FOR WITHDRAWING.. Y NEEDLES: F ROM BALEGASES QQtseBt K lt. Qttumw owa a signor "toilette a nt-entr es a w imre icfieii ma M nimisation Nhveznber29, 1946, SeriahNo..71;2;92,3-; v

' names The. tes nt evestia t tes es. sen teily W- elies: messes a d meta. 9 in pr ses c t e ty e when au oma ca l measu the: len th. tthe; bel ei the. latter. t at. len th... automam; smfiehen tm includes axle/i nown eed wh ch is; insetteci .thizoueit n; filse fih r 213 a f he ale: casettctbe n he w e twine around .t.n. e1.1. iv c t e. ba to; a. e tities i which. the knot can b matte. s the needle. must. tra th ou h, the bak across the path of. the ba namuns L. i s 1189 y o. completethetytne .Qneraticn ana with! draw the. needle; between strokes. of the plunger. This requires. a close 55 .1 91 QmZZ EiQ bet e n the movements of the. neeQie and it is. well known to those k:i1le the art that if the. needle. drive .meehhnifimt reill Q 3 9? any reason depantsiroxn synchronized relation with. the plunger drive mechani m, the pl will strike. the needle; inside.-.. 1; bale Q substantial damage. will result theigetrq One. or the! principal obieets ef msri c therefore, rel. tes to. the provision oi; device, which will cause. theneedle to be; for d out of theibalezcase in advance of: the plun in the event: of failure "oi. the nfieclle giriye mechanism.

More specifically, any object of: my invention has to do with the provision. of a. sa actuated by the. plunger ttselt, tor; driving the needle out'of theebalecasei responsiye o 931?- ment of the plunger toward the needl st- 53;; the plunger reaches of travel. i 1 I In the accomplishment of; these; Qblets, I have provided a controiileveu which: is} swingable into the bale case to awposition'in, "which it is engaged-by the plunger. duringreciprcca fact that the needle must-be. insented into. the

caseat the beginning of a tying operation, befiore the plunger has been retracted from enga ement f with the control-lever; and-therefore it is. afurther object of my invention to. provide a lost mo.-

'tion connection between the needlevandthe lever so that the neeclle can beinserted through the bale case during an outwardFmovemjent. of the a certain pointiin itsra ge icaseon a transverse; axis andz pmvidedf-wi "Stitches-attache be hat" i a 've cszli es iQ t wfiq towhi hfifi a es to; yield to. ba t e sed. tpetehs sesara i s f e l to. P rmit embo y-ins he nri pinleso o ion; a portion of: the. ale ca e ei away. to; expose, the plun er-L figure. 2% is. a irasme tatystcn plan; 9 5. portion of? the bale case. the, ten qiwhi h. beenremove'd: to. expose thetinte '9 t es Eigure Bis an elevatienal; view 'sim ilar H unefLibut with the parts. shown in positi s ing the; tyingitope'ration;

Figure 4-15. anen1arge-fra mentary section Referring. now to thenrawinaa thebaEJca E v isZJiIidicated-by reference; numeralt 5 i and; 001. 1.-

prises top ands. bottom.- w.alls; ,,.'l:an.d a...naiix 05 vertical: sidewalls ,8,... Q; tori-rung an: elon a ed case of" substantially "square cross lseetiom *A plunger Hli is slidably disposed within "the. bale case 5 by means. 0t conventional; wooden. Wear blocks. ltd, and isiadaptert'to neciprocate'lnn t ur 'd inally' within the bale. case, The plun er Jail isdriven from: aicranksshait' Ills: lnmtnaled in the crank arm I22; igidlyfi xeditheheto. The. crank arm I2 is connectectwith the plunger- .thby; mean of a. connectingmdrl 3;. which is; swineabla con.- nected to. the send-of thezcranl; bybearin IA', and jcurnaled at; itsiopposite end-within plunger t0: onattranslvetse bearing. A feed opening it. is provided; the. wall fit thton h which the crops or other material to; bebaled is; fed: .d-uring retractionlot-the;plun er tit. as indicated'in figures; ptunser. est-= presses the material toward; the.-1 e,.. .as nested in the drawings; each chargeL fimateial bein pr sseclinto vthe, zbale which: teamed within the bale case-J p The length of each; haleis determined by; a

serrated measuring wheel rotatably mounted on a shaft 2| on top of the bale case in a position in which the periphery of the wheel 20 extends through a slot in the top wall 6 and engages the top of the bale being formed. The wheel 20 controls the actuation of a self-interrupting clutch device 22 which receives power from the main crankshaft as by a drive chain 23 for the purpose of actuating the bale tying mechanism 24. The bale tying mechanism 24 operates in cooperation with a needle 25 which is mounted on a U-shaped bail 26, the two arms of which are pivotally mounted at 21 on a pair of coaxially disposed pivot connections on the two vertical side walls 8, 9, respectively, the central portion of the bail extending transversely beneath the bale case 5 to carry one or more needles, two of which 2 5, 25' are indicated in Figure 2. The needles are disposed in transversely spaced relation on the bail 26 and are swung upwardly through a pair of longitudinally extending slots 28, 28' in the bottom wall 1 of the bale case, when the bail 26 is swung in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figures 1 and 3, about the axis of the pivot mountings 21, from the inactive or starting position shown in Figure 1, to the raised position shown in- Figure 3, where the needles 25, 25' are inserted upwardly through the slots 28, 28, respectively, to bring the upper ends of the needles into cooperative tying relation with the tying mechanism 24.

The needles 25 and 25' and bail 26 .are actuated by power from the self-interrupting clutch mechanism 22, which is transmitted through a normally stationary shaft 36, on which is rigidly fixed a crank arm 3|. The arm 3| is connected to the ball 26 by means of a link 32, pivotally connected to the arm 3| by means of a pin 33 extending through a radially disposed slot 34 in the arm 3|. The opposite end of the link 32 is connected by a pivot pin 35 to a. bracket 36 rigidly mounted on the arm of the bail 26. A roller 31 is journaled on the pin 33- and is disposed in engagement with a camming track 38, mounted in fixed position on top of the bale case. When the clutch mechanism 22 rotates the shaft 30 through 'a single revolution, the arm 3| raises the ball 26 throughthe link 32, and the roller 31 rolls around the camming track 38, which causes the needle to be quicklyraised into tying position, the upper portion of the camming track 38 being. flat to retain the needle in this position during the tying. operation, after which the bail 26 and its supported needles are rapidly lowered to theinactive position.

Power for driving the plunger I0 and tying mechanism is obtained from any suitable source, such as an internal combustion engine (not shown) connected to the crank shaft The power transmitting chain 23 is connected to the clutch 22 in timed relation to provide for raising the needles 25, 25' as the plunger It moves into contact with the bale to compress the latter, the needles being lowered by the clutch mechanism 22 out of the path of the plunger |6 while the latter is approaching the needles on the succeeding stroke, moving toward the left, as viewed in the drawings.

The wire tying mechanism and needle drive mechanism have been described only briefly above, inasmuch as the details of this part of the mechanism do not form an essential part of the present invention. A 'more complete description can be found in U. S. Patent 2,512,896 to J. R. West filed June 8,1945, to which reference is made for a complete disclosure of the needle driving mechanism.

Coming now to that portion of the device with which my invention is more particularly related, it will be noted that in the event of failure of the needle drive mechanism after the needles have been raised into tying position. as illustrated in Figure 3, such as, for example, should the drive chain 23 break with the needles in raised position, the plunger H) on its succeeding stroke would obviously strike the needles and cause considerable damage to the needles and possibly to the tying mechanism, if it were not for the safety device which is indicated in its entirety by reference numeral 45.

The safety device 45 comprises a control lever 46 which is fixed to a rockable shaft 41, the latter being disposed transversely beneath the bale case 5 and journaled in a pair of supporting brackets 48 at opposite sides of the bale case. The lever 46 is free to swing upwardly through a slot 49 in the bottom wall 1 of the bale case, into the path of movement of the plunger ID. The lever 46 is urged upwardly into the bale case by means of a coil spring 50 connected between an arm 5| fixed to the control lever 46 and extending oppositely therefrom, to a bracket 52 supported on a framework 53 beneath the bale case.

The shaft 41 is provided with a depending arm 54, rigidly fixed thereto, which is connected to the bail 26 through a link 55, pivoted to the arm 54 by a pin 56. The link 55 extends alongside the vertical wall 9 of the bale case 5 and is connected to a plate 51- by means of a pin 58. The plate 51 is rigidly fixed, as by welding, to the bail arm 26 adjacent the pivot mounting 21 of the latter and the pin 58 extends through a slot 59 in the plate 51. The slot 59 is angular in shape, having a main portion 60 which is substantially parallel to the bail arm 26. and has a short slot or notch 6| at the inner end of the slot 60, extending inwardly toward the pivot 21.

During the formation of a-bale, the parts are disposed in the positions indicated in Figure 1. the plunger |0 reciprocating longitudinally of the bale case 5, while the needle 25 is held below the bottom wall I of the bale case- In this position, the plate 51 is disposed with the slot portion 60 in a generally vertical position, while the short slot 6| is disposed on alslight angle from the horizontal. The pin 58 is disposed in the end of the short slot 6|,,and inasmuch as the ball 26 is locked in a down position by the link 32 and. roller 31 bearing'against the lower edge of the camming track 38, the link 55 is forced to the right to urge the lever 46 downwardly against the tension of the spring 50,. out of the path of movement of the plunger -|0. I

After the bale has attained the predetermined length, the clutch device 22 transmits power from the continuously running ,chain 23 to the normally stationary shaft .30, swinging the arm 3| in a complete revolution,.thereby causing the bail 26 and need1es25, 25" to beraised to insert the needles 25, 25 throughthe slots 28, 28' and across the bale case. The needles 2 5, 25 are inserted through the slots 28, 28' while the plunger I0 is still in contact with the bale, the plunger being provided with longitudinally extending slots 64, 64', in the front oriworkingface of the plunger, through-which,thexneedles 25, 25' are inserted. This angular movement of the bail 26 and therefore the plate; 5], swings the latter about the pivot axis 21, allowing the lever 46 to bear against thev bottom side of the plunger the needle 25reaches its tying: position, as shown in Figure 3, the short portion H of the slot 59 is disposed in a vertical position, so that, when the pin 58" reaches the inner or lei-t hand: end of the long slot portion 6% it drops downwardlyby. force or gravity intothe notch-EH. Normally, as the plunger it begins to move toward the needle again, the needle drive arm 3| continues to rotate and forces the link 32 and. hail 2'5 downwardly, thereby withdrawing the needle 25 from the bale case before the plunger Lt. a r-- rives at that position. However, in the event that the needle driveclutch mechanism. 22 should fail, or the drive chain 23 should break, or any other failure should occur which would leave the needle in raised position within the bale case in the path or the plunger Ii], the plunger first engages the control arm 46, pressing thev latter downwardly and swinging the. rockable shaft ii about its axis, thereby applying a. tensional force through the link 55 and pin 58 to the plate. 57:. The direction offorce is transverse to the short slot or notch, which causes the tensional force from the link 55 to pull the plate 51' and ball 26' ina clockwise direction about the. supporting axis 2i, thereby forcing or driving the needle 25 downwardly out of the balecase. In effect; the mechanism46-54--5'5-isa=second driving means in parallelwith the means 3il-3ql-32 and is operative in the event of failure of the latter.

In order-to prevent the drive-mechanism from interfering with themovement of, thebailQ-B and needle 25, the link 32 is provided: intwo soparable parts 65, 5d disposed in overlapping arrangement and secured togethenby a pair of nut and bolt assembliesfil, 58-

40:. The-bolt Elpasses through an aperture-in-thepart B5 and through aslot 69 in the end otthe low-creeparable section as, while theother-bolttspasses through an aperture inthe part- 6'6 and through as lot H3 in the end of theupperseparablesection 65'.

Hence, the bolts 61, 68'" when normally-tightened merely hold the two link; sections- 65, 66 togetherby frictional contact, but'the-latterare readily pulled apart when; the needle is-driven downwardly out of the bale case; That/is to say, the tightness of the bolts and-nuts-issufficient to prevent separation of -thesections 65 and Sli during normal operation -but-insufficient to prevent separation when a tensionalforce is applied to said' sections upon reverse angular movement of the. needle bail 26 by-actionoi the mechanism d6--5'5l -55,,

I claim:

1. In a baling press comprisingabale case, having an opening in a wall thereof, a needle shiitable through said opening and across said case, mechanism for reciprocatively driving said needle into andout of said caseincludinga yield able connection with. said, needle, and a, plunger reciprocativelyslidable withinsaid casethe com} bination of a control element actuated 'bysaid In this position of: the plate 51:, the

plunger, and means connecting saidlclementwith said needle for withdrawing the latter out of said bale case in the event of failure of said needle shifting means, said yieldable connection being adapted to be disabled to disconnect saidneedle from said mechanism to facilitate withdrawal of the needle.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, includ ing; the furtherprovision that said control element comprisesa leverpi-votally mounted on said bale case and projecting through an aperture in the latter into the-path of movement of said plunger and adapted to be swung about its pivot mounting by; engagement with the reciprocating plunger.

3. In a baling presscomprising-a-bale-case, having anopening in; a wall thereof, aneedle alternatelyextendible and retractable through said opening and across said case,-driving means for reciprocatively moving said needle into and* out of said case, a plunger;- reciprocatively slidable within said case, and driving means for said needle and said plunger synchronized to avoid interference therebetween, the combination of a control element actuated by movement of-said plunger within a certain portion of its range of movement, and means additional to the needledrivingmeans and controlled bysaid control element for retracting said needle out ofthe path of movement of said plungertoprotect theneedle against damage by said plunger'in the; event of failure of said needle drivingmeans to retract the needle.

l. In abaling presscomprising abalecase, havmg an opening in awallthereof, a needle alternately extendible and retractable through said opening and across; said case in a needle zone, means for reciprocatively moving said needle into and out of said case, a plunger-reciprocatively-slidable within said-case, anddriving means for said needle and said-plunger synchronized to avoid interference therebetween, thecombination of a control element actuated by movement of said plunger within a certain portion of its range of movement, and means'add-itional to the needledriving means and including a lost motion connection for connecting said control element with said needle-for retracting said needle outof the path of movement of said plunger as the latter approaches said needle zone intheevent of failure of the needle driving means to retract the needle, said lost motion connection beingadapted to disable said connecting means during movement of said plunger away; from said needle 'zonel 5. In a baling presscomprising-a bale case, havmg an opening in a-wall thereof; a needleshiftable through said opening and across said case, means for reciprocatively moving said needle into and out of said case, a plunger reciprocatively slidable within said case, and driving means for said needle and said plunger synchronized to avoid interference therebetween, the combinationofa: control lever pivotally mounted on said bale case and projecting through an aperture in the latter into the path. of movement of said plunger and adapted; to be swung about its pivot mounting by engagement with the reciprocating plunger at a certain point in the range ofmovement of the latter, and a connection between said lever and said needle, including engageable and disfengageable elements normally. engagedifor establishing said connection to causethe needleto bemoved out of said caseby engagement of. said plunger with said'lever during movemen t of said plunger toward saidneedle, said elements being engaged responsive to movement of said needle into said bale case while said plunger is engaged with said lever during movement of the plunger away fromsaid needle.

6. The combination set forth in claim 5, including the further provision of a pivoted arm on which said needle is supported for swinging movement into and out of said case, said disengageable elements comprising a plate having a slot therein provided with an angular slot portion and a pin adapted to slide in'said slot and to engage in saidangular slot portion.

7. The combination set forth in claim 5, including the further provision of a pivoted arm on which said needle is supported for swinging movement into and out of said case, and spring means for urging said lever toward a position in the path of said plunger, said driving means including a yieldable connection with said needle supporting arm, said connection being yieldable to disable the driving connection to permit said needle to be driven out of said case by said plunger engaging said lever.

8. In a baling press comprising a bale case having an opening in a wall thereof, a needle supporting arm pivotally mounted on said bale case, a needle attached to said arm and swingable about the pivot axis of the latter through said opening and across said case, a plunger re ciprocatively slidable within said case, and driving means for said needle and said plunger synchronized to avoid interference therebetween and including a separable drive connection to said needle arm, the combination of a control lever pivotally mounted on said case and projecting through an aperture in the latter into the path of movement of said plunger and adapted to be swung about its pivot mounting by engagement with the plunger'at a certain point in the range of reciprocating movement of the latter, spring means urging said lever into said bale case, and a tie connection between said lever and said needle arm adapted to cause said needle to be forced out of said case by engagement of said plunger with said lever during movement of said plunger toward said needle when the latter is disposed within said case in the path of said plunger, said drive connection being separable to permit the needle to be forced out of said case, said tie connection including a pair of disengageable elements, which are disengaged responsive to movement of said needle into said bale case while said plunger is engaged with said lever during movement of the plunger away from said needle, said elements being engageable by movement of said lever into said bale case by said spring means after said plunger has been retracted from engagement with said lever.

9. In a baling press having a baling chamber, the combination of bale-forming means including a bale-forming element for forming bales in the chamber, and mechanism for driving said element in a certain cycle; bale-tying means including a tying member movable from a starting position through a certain cycle and return to said starting position; means including a first driving connection with the bale-forming means for driving the tying member completely through its cycle in synchronism with the cycle of the bale-forming element; and means including a second connection between the tying means and the baleforming means and additional to the first driving connection for driving the tying means in only the return portionof its cycle to insure return of the tying member toward its starting position in the event of failure of said first connection.

10. In a baling press having a driving source and a baling chamber, the combination of baleforming means including a bale-forming element for forming bales in the chamber, and means connected to said driving source for driving said element in a certain cycle; bale-tying means including a tying member movable from a starting position through a certain cycle; means including a first driving connection with the driving source for driving the tying member through its cycle of the bale-forming element; and means including a second driving connection between the tying means and the bale-forming means and in parallel with the first driving connection for returning the tying member toward its starting position in the event of failure of said driving connection.

11. In a baling press having a driving source and a baling chamber, the combination of bale-forming means including a bale-forming elementiorforming bales in the chamber, and means connected to said driving source for driving said element in a certain cycle; bale-tying means including a tying member movable from a starting position through a certain cycle and return to its starting position; means including a first driving connection with the driving source for driving the tying member completely through its cycle in synchronism with the cycle of the bale-forming element; and means including a second connection between the tying means and the driving source and separate from the first driving connection for returning the tying member toward its starting position in the event of failure of said first driving connection.

12. In a baling press comprising a bale case, bale-forming means movable in the bale case in a defined path, a tying member movable in the bale case into and out of the path of said baleforming means, and means for driving the tying member into and out of the path of the baleforming means, the combination of a movable force-transmitting element associated with the tying member in such manner as to be ineffective to transmit force to the tying member while the tying member is out of the path of the bale-forming means, means operative in response to movement of the tying member into the path of the bale-forming means for effecting a force-transmitting connection between the tying member and said element, and drive means separate from the aforesaid driving means and connecting said element and the bale-forming means and effective through said force-transmitting connection to move the tying member out of the path of said bale-forming means in the event of failure of said tying member driving means to remove the tying member.

13. In a baling press including a bale case, a plunger slidable in the bale casein a defined path, a needle member shiftable transversely through said case into and out of the path of said plunger, and means for shifting said needle member into and out of said path, the combination of a movable force-transmitting element associated with the needle member in such manner as to be ineffective to transmit force to the needle member while said needle member is out of the path of the plunger, means operative in response to movementof the needle member into the path of the plunger for effectinga force-transmitting connection between the needle member and said element, anddrive means separate from the needlemember-shifting means and connecting said element and the plunger and effective through the force-transmitting connection to move the needle member out of the path of said plunger in the event of failure of said needle-member-shifting 5 means to remove the needle member.

GEORGE B. HILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 file of this patent:

Number 10 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Hart Jan. 18, 1910 Pearson Oct. 14, 1913 Dudley Feb. 26, 1918 Nolt Apr. 1, 1941 Bunn Oct. 31, 1944 Crumb Aug. 13, 1946 

